Although a Green Cone is expected to last for at least 10 years, customers often report their Cone has lasted a lot longer than this.

The oldest Cone that we’ve heard of belongs to a lady in Scotland, who got it through her local authority, Argyll and Bute District Council, 25 years ago.

The customer’s daughter contacted us when the Cone’s lid blew off in a storm and Great Green Systems replaced it free of charge.

 She said: ‘The Cone is still going strong, a real asset in a rural area where there is no specific collection of food waste. ‘

Another Cone going strong, and coping with extreme heat, is one that was taken to Spain by its owner, Angela, nearly 20 years ago when she bought an old Spanish farmhouse.   

Angela knew the Cone worked well at home in England so it would be an even greater asset in Spain, with heat, foxes and rodents to contend with. The family took their Cone over to Spain in their car.

‘We love our Cone and it is really, really useful,’ says Angela.  ‘I must say that we have been surprised and delighted that the actual Cone has lasted brilliantly all these years. We wouldn’t want to be without it.’

For several years the family made annual trips to their Spanish house, spending working holidays getting the house and garden ready for their eventual move.

On one visit a big family birthday was celebrated with 10 guests staying for a full week. The Cone’s underground basket (which is where food waste lands) was full after the week, but when the family returned months later they were delighted to find that the basket’s contents had almost completely vanished.

The family relocated to Spain a few years ago and over the years Angela has seen big changes there in attitudes to recycling food waste.

She says: ‘Things have become easier over the past few years as Spain has started to install special organic recycling bins, which have a swing top and drop waste into an underground receptacle that is then cleared very regularly by the council.  

A good ecological cycle

‘So, from nothing less than 20 years ago, we have multiple ways of safe and hygienic organic waste disposal, the most convenient of which is our Cone.

‘To be honest, it is as much of a pleasure to take the bin out to the Cone as it is to go out and pick veggies for supper because it is useful to process things ourselves and know that we are using a good ecological cycle for production and waste.’ 

The couple grow a lot of their own produce and have had to contend with many challenges posed by the climate and mountainous geography. Their Cone has been moved four times, with placement being determined by where there is sufficient depth to site the basket, which needs to be embedded in soil.

‘When there is torrential rain and it floods over the terrace behind our land it can remove soil down to the bedrock, it was quite a shock the first time we saw this and realised just how little soil covering there is in some places,’ Angela says.

‘As a consequence, we have built raised beds for some of our produce and will be looking to make deeper beds for some others as time goes by.’

A 5000-litre tank for rainwater has been an essential investment.

Angela says the Spanish are becoming much more interested in tending gardens.

 ‘People have been quite interested in our approach (raised beds, adding marigolds for insect control and so on). Possibly they will become more interested in composting as well since many areas have banned burning of waste, partly as a fire hazard and partly air pollution, so things are changing gradually.’